I think Varoufakis's proposal is not just so the euro becomes a proper fiscal and adjustment union like the United States, but also so that if the major countries like Germany reject this, they will be publicly exposed doing it. That would help an orderly dismantling of the Eurozone instead of the stubbornness continuing and ending in a catastrophic breakup. So I don't think he's delusional, he just recognises what he's up against. His parallel payment scheme to allow Greece out of the fiscal straitjacket without a disorderly exit from the euro was rejected after all.
I agree with you that the immigration has to stop, it doesn't justify Brexit though. Politics are dangerous at the moment, yes. They will be worse if Brexit causes a recession to add to the problem of a historically long and slow recovery. And the immigrants who still live here already will get the blame with people wanting to kick them out overnight in the hope of more jobs.
A possible way out is that future treaties have to be ratified by all Member States. Well, the UK could insist immigration control be added, either generally or for the UK alone, as a condition of signing. Some quid pro quo reducing the UK's access to the single market could be included. You may laugh but I think it's the best of a bad job and there are few options that don't make things worse.
Allowing the EU to continue is exactly what will lead to the victory of the populist right in Europe. Explain to me how Le Pen's party candidates won the first round of French regional elections, or the populist right nearly won the recent Austrian election, or why 1 in 4 Swedes were early this year willing to vote for the Sweden Democrats?
When there is a populist right victory in Europe the pro-EU left will scream that you never saw it coming and can't explain why it happened.
Not at all. And I am not pro-EU left, I am anti-euro, anti-immigration, and anti-further integration. Keynes thought there was little need for international division of labour and the political complexity of making trade truly free wasn't generally worth it. OK, so I want a reduction in the powers of the EU. That can be done (for the UK) in successive treaties if the other members insist on having them.
The UK can't control the Eurozone and force it to end austerity, so the radical right is onto a winner there. In the UK itself austerity can end at the drop of a hat, and as unemployment and growth return to normal, immigration hysteria can end. I acknowledge a good recovery will suck in more immigrants; nonetheless in the 1997-2007 period the press had it in for immigrants 5 days a week, but Labour always got elected anyway.
While I fear Marine Le Pen becoming President, you should realise Jean-Marie Le Pen came close to victory 5 years before the financial crisis happened. The unpopularity of EU migration has always been a problem, but the proximate cause of any fascist governments will be austerity.
Sorry to delusion you, but The new president in Austria is on de verge of being diminished for trickery in mail vote. Hofe will be the new president. New step toward abyss.
Yanis Varoufakis is also a Marxist who supports open borders. He considers most deviation from pro-immigration and pro-EU positions to be motivated by xenophobia and ultra-nationalism. Otherwise he seems to think people are suffering from false consciousness. Of course he supports the EU. He seems like a nice guy, but I don't trust his politics.
To be fair to him, he does say that countries like Greece should never have joined in the first place. But he is worried about the consequences of an exit. He should be more worried about the consequences of the EU persistence, which he clearly is not. There are many incentives to join the EU for a poor European country(which practically means there are punishments for not doing so), which is why the EU has been able to expand its membership. This means both that the EU and Eurozone will become more powerful and more unstable, at least for a time. There is no reason to believe this will stop until and unless steps to dismantle or otherwise undermine the EU are taken. Personally I think driving a stake through the heart of the beast is the only solution.
Varoufakis' solution is more integration combined with reforming the EU to make it more democratic and the Eurozone more economically viable. Of course, the idea that politicians are going to cooperate with any of this is fantasy land stuff, about as likely as reforming the IMF to finance Marxist revolution. The idea that Germans will for example ever support becoming fiscally integrated with Greece is a crazy thought. But this seems to be what Varoufakis thinks the only options are. He is delusional, at the very least.
Pretty much everyone I mention this to think I'm nuts for supporting Brexit. The cheapest argument I saw was from a WWII vet arguing that his friends died to save Europe, so the UK should stay in. My grandfather served in both wars; should Canada stay in the EU? The USA? Should Mother Russia stay in?
The U.K. thinks it is controlling the market by remaining in the EU, but it is becoming is victim. The only principled thing for Cameron to do if Remain wins is:
- reduce the number of MPs at Westminster. Not needed;
- change the style 'Prime Minister' to 'Premier' or 'Chief Minister' after the fashion of the leader of an Australian state government;
- invite Juncker to London to outline his policies for the next few years to his British European citizens.
I think Varoufakis's proposal is not just so the euro becomes a proper fiscal and adjustment union like the United States, but also so that if the major countries like Germany reject this, they will be publicly exposed doing it. That would help an orderly dismantling of the Eurozone instead of the stubbornness continuing and ending in a catastrophic breakup. So I don't think he's delusional, he just recognises what he's up against. His parallel payment scheme to allow Greece out of the fiscal straitjacket without a disorderly exit from the euro was rejected after all.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the immigration has to stop, it doesn't justify Brexit though. Politics are dangerous at the moment, yes. They will be worse if Brexit causes a recession to add to the problem of a historically long and slow recovery. And the immigrants who still live here already will get the blame with people wanting to kick them out overnight in the hope of more jobs.
A possible way out is that future treaties have to be ratified by all Member States. Well, the UK could insist immigration control be added, either generally or for the UK alone, as a condition of signing. Some quid pro quo reducing the UK's access to the single market could be included. You may laugh but I think it's the best of a bad job and there are few options that don't make things worse.
Rubbish. You are delusional.
DeleteAllowing the EU to continue is exactly what will lead to the victory of the populist right in Europe. Explain to me how Le Pen's party candidates won the first round of French regional elections, or the populist right nearly won the recent Austrian election, or why 1 in 4 Swedes were early this year willing to vote for the Sweden Democrats?
When there is a populist right victory in Europe the pro-EU left will scream that you never saw it coming and can't explain why it happened.
Not at all. And I am not pro-EU left, I am anti-euro, anti-immigration, and anti-further integration. Keynes thought there was little need for international division of labour and the political complexity of making trade truly free wasn't generally worth it. OK, so I want a reduction in the powers of the EU. That can be done (for the UK) in successive treaties if the other members insist on having them.
DeleteThe UK can't control the Eurozone and force it to end austerity, so the radical right is onto a winner there. In the UK itself austerity can end at the drop of a hat, and as unemployment and growth return to normal, immigration hysteria can end. I acknowledge a good recovery will suck in more immigrants; nonetheless in the 1997-2007 period the press had it in for immigrants 5 days a week, but Labour always got elected anyway.
While I fear Marine Le Pen becoming President, you should realise Jean-Marie Le Pen came close to victory 5 years before the financial crisis happened. The unpopularity of EU migration has always been a problem, but the proximate cause of any fascist governments will be austerity.
Sorry to delusion you, but The new president in Austria is on de verge of being diminished for trickery in mail vote. Hofe will be the new president. New step toward abyss.
DeleteYanis Varoufakis is also a Marxist who supports open borders. He considers most deviation from pro-immigration and pro-EU positions to be motivated by xenophobia and ultra-nationalism. Otherwise he seems to think people are suffering from false consciousness. Of course he supports the EU. He seems like a nice guy, but I don't trust his politics.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair to him, he does say that countries like Greece should never have joined in the first place. But he is worried about the consequences of an exit. He should be more worried about the consequences of the EU persistence, which he clearly is not. There are many incentives to join the EU for a poor European country(which practically means there are punishments for not doing so), which is why the EU has been able to expand its membership. This means both that the EU and Eurozone will become more powerful and more unstable, at least for a time. There is no reason to believe this will stop until and unless steps to dismantle or otherwise undermine the EU are taken. Personally I think driving a stake through the heart of the beast is the only solution.
Varoufakis' solution is more integration combined with reforming the EU to make it more democratic and the Eurozone more economically viable. Of course, the idea that politicians are going to cooperate with any of this is fantasy land stuff, about as likely as reforming the IMF to finance Marxist revolution. The idea that Germans will for example ever support becoming fiscally integrated with Greece is a crazy thought. But this seems to be what Varoufakis thinks the only options are. He is delusional, at the very least.
Pretty much everyone I mention this to think I'm nuts for supporting Brexit. The cheapest argument I saw was from a WWII vet arguing that his friends died to save Europe, so the UK should stay in. My grandfather served in both wars; should Canada stay in the EU? The USA? Should Mother Russia stay in?
ReplyDeleteI see group think at work.
The UK must go:
ReplyDeletehttps://foreignpolicy.com/2016/06/19/could-brexit-save-the-eu-european-union/
The U.K. thinks it is controlling the market by remaining in the EU, but it is becoming is victim. The only principled thing for Cameron to do if Remain wins is:
ReplyDelete- reduce the number of MPs at Westminster. Not needed;
- change the style 'Prime Minister' to 'Premier' or 'Chief Minister' after the fashion of the leader of an Australian state government;
- invite Juncker to London to outline his policies for the next few years to his British European citizens.